Various configurations of terminal blocks are used in the telecommunications industries or other industries which require many wire connections at a terminal block, fuse box, and the like in an apparatus. For example, the drop wire in the telecommunication industry will be attached to a terminal block such that the major cable will provide individual wires for the wires going to individual homes. The fuse panel in homes or in machines often require many wire electrical connections at a given point. When the electrical and mechanical connection is made at the same point on the wire to provide both the electrical connection as well as mechanically holding the wire in place, the pivot point of the mechanical connection may break the wire or the wire may undergo a cold working at the attachment point which over time results in a broken electrical connection. High vibration environments accelerate this situation and shorten the connection's lifetime.
The Applications enumerated above teach innovative terminal blocks and methods for forming electrical connections without the need for wire stripping and bending around a terminal post. This provides for a faster and stronger electrical connection. Forming the electrical connection without stripping the wire speeds the installation process as well as provides additional protection for the wire for strain relief purposes. This type of electrical connection, although ideally suited for terminal blocks, finds applications in any device where it desirable to provide an electrical connection while maintaining the vast majority of the insulation on the wire apart from the point of the electrical connection. Although this connection provides greater strain relief than a stripped wire, a contact configuration with greater strain relief would further increase the connection lifetime and be highly desirable.
Specific applications such as Telecommunication's Terminal Blocks often require forming electrical connections to a wide variety of wire gauges. In the process of designing terminal blocks for such wide variety of wire gauges, e.g., 24 gauge through 18 1/2 gauge, the sizing of the block must be made to accommodate the largest gauge wire, i.e., 181/2 gauge. However, in accommodating such a large gauge of wire, it is often difficult to tell when the large gauge wire can be easily withdrawn from the terminal block without stripping the insulation from the end of the wire. Stripping the insulation from the end of the wire results in a time consuming process to extract the insulation before a wire can be re-inserted. The terminal block is also configured to tighten down on a much smaller wire such as a 24 gauge wire. In providing for a good electrical contact to the smallest wires, it is often difficult to know when a good electrical contact is made to the largest gauge wire with overtightening. Thus, the installer often overtightens the cap. This results in damage to the cutting edge. It would be highly desirable to have a terminal block configured to indicate when the largest gauge wire can be safety withdrawn without stripping the insulation while also minimizing or eliminating destructive over-tightening on the large gauge wire. A still further desirable feature would be a method and a means for providing feedback on the position of the connection cap when tightening down to the smallest gauge wire. Although an individual operation is not time consuming, working the many repetitions of the process in a 50-terminal block results in greater and more effective utilization of the craftsperson.
It is thus an object of this invention to provide an electrical connection device which can electrically connect a wire to a suitable terminal post or any electrical connection where enhanced strain relief benefits the reliability of the connection. It is also an object of this invention to form an electrical connection without the need for wire stripping. A still further object of the invention provides for an indication of when the large gauge wires can be withdrawn from the terminal block without stripping insulation therefrom while also avoiding overtightening upon installation of the larger gauge wire. Additional objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description.